Carpet-stretcher.



10.555632. Patented Aug. 23, I900.

E. W. DUULITTLE.

CARPET STRETCHER.

(Application filed Oct. 30, 1899.)

(N0 lo del.)

IIIIIIIPA M l I ,9

co. Movoqm'wnv WASNINGTON, n. c.

NITED STATES PATENT ,FFICEG EDMUND W. DOOLI-TTLE, OF DES MOINES, IOWVA.

CARPET-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,632, dated August28, 1900.

A li ti fil d October 30, 1899. Serial No. 735,228. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND W. DOOLITTLE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carpet-Stretchers,of which the following is a specification.

One object of this invention is to provide a device of this class whichshall be of simple, strong, durable, and inexpensive construction andwhich may be easily and quickly operated by unskilled persons to stretcha carpet against the side wall of the room with as great or as littletension as may be desired, and, further, to ,provide a device of thisclass that may be readily and easily fasten ed to the floor, a firm holdof the carpet quickly and easilyobtained, and then the carpet stretched,so that, it engages the side wall and there be firmly held until tackedor otherwise secured thereto.

A further object is to provide a machine of this class in which the rodfor securing the device to the floor is prevented from moving to aposition any great distance beyond a line parallel with the frame of themachine, so that when the frame is raised to be carried the said rodwill be raised with it.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combinationof the various parts of the device, as hereinafter more fully set forth,pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 1 shows the complete device in perspective, with therod and the main frame separated to their limit of movement. Fig. 2shows a longitudinal sectional view of the device lying fiat upon thefloor.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the frame of the device iscomposed of a straight fiat wooden strip 10, having on its under surfacea central longitudinal groove 11. At one end of this strip 10 I haveconnected two parallel wooden strips 12 and 13 by means of hinges 14, soarranged that the said strips 12 and 13 may bend downwardly withrelation to the strip 10. These strips 12 and 13 are separated a slightdistance, so that a rod (hereinafter described) may pass between them.At the juncture of these strips 10, 12, and 13 I have provided aflexible protector 15, preferably made of leather and secured on top ofthe strips to cover the opening between the strips. This protector isprovided for the purpose of preventing the operators hand from beingpinched between the edges of said strip when he flattens out the stripsby pressing downwardly thereupon.

At the free ends of the strips 12 and 13 I have fixed a toothedcarpet-engaging frame 16, which is preferably cast or stamped completein one piece and which has an arch 16 to pass over the tops of thestrips 12 and 13 and a straight front edge provided with a series ofdownwardly and forwardly projecting teeth 17. An opening is provided atthe central portion of this frame, so that the opening between thestrips 12 and 13 is unobstructed at this point. provided forsecuringthis frame to the forward ends of the strips 12 and 13, and rivets orbolts 19 are provided for securing the arch 16 to the tops of saidstrips. A rod 20 is provided of a length somewhat greater than thecombined lengths of the strips 10 and 12, and on one end thereof is aneye through which the pin 21 passes transversely through the free end ofthe strip 10 to thereby hinge the rod to said strip. A-shoulder 22projects upwardly from this end and is so arranged as to engage with apart of the strip 10 when the said strip and rod are separated at anangle of about thirty degrees, thereby preventing a further movement ofthese parts. On the other end of this rod 20 I have provided adownwardly-projecting sharpened point 23, designed to be driven into thefloor, and immediately above the said point a shoulder 24 to limit themovement of the said point into the floor, so that the body of the rodis always held a slight distance above the floor to thereby per-' mitthe carpet to slide under the rod freely. On top of the said end is aprojection 25, designed to receive the blows of a hammer for driving thepoint into the floor.

In practical operation the carpet is first secured at one side of theroom, and then the operator goes to the opposite sideand drives thepoint 23 into the floor as near the wall as may be possible. Then therod is placed in position at right angles to the wall and the hingedjoints of the wooden strip elevated and the toothed frame placed inengagement Rivets or bolts 18 are with the carpet to be stretched. Thenthe operator forces the strips out fiat by pressing downwardlythereupon, which will obviously bring the toothed frame, together withthe carpet engaged thereby, toward the wall of the room, therebystretching the carpet. The edge of the carpet may obviously be forcedforwardly until it engages the shoulder 24, and, further, the carpetwill be there held until the operator secures it to the floor.

One of the peculiar advantages of my machine is the perfect freedom withwhich the toothed carpet-en gagin g frame may be moved up and down intoengagement with the carpet, so that a hold may be quickly obtained onthe carpet at any point, and in use should the operator find that uponpressing the strips downwardly the carpet will be moved either too faror too little he may readily obtain a new hold before stretching.Another important advantage in the operation of my machine is found inthe ease with which an operator may move the machine and attach it tothe floor at a different point. rod 20 may be easily and quicklydisengaged from the floor by moving its pivoted end laterally, which maybe obviously done Without actually grasping the rod, but simply bymoving the strips. Then the entire device may be elevated by theoperator grasping First the these strips and raising them, theprojection 22 providing means whereby the rod will be raised togetherwith the strips. The machine is thus carried to a new position and thepoint driven into the floor by a blow from the hammer. I

Having thus described the carpet-stretcher, what I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statestherefor, is

An improved carpet-stretcher, comprising in combination, a strip 10,having a groove 11 therein, two parallel strips 12 and 13 hinged to theend of the strip 10, opposite from said groove, with a slight spacebetween them, a carpet-en gaging frame fixed to the remaining ends ofsaid strips 12 and 13, said frame comprising the arch 16 and the teeth17, and a rod in the groove 11 at the free end of the strip 10 andprojecting through the carpetengaging frame between the arch and teeththereof, of a length greater in the combined lengths of the strips 10and the parallel strips 12 and 13, and a point 23 on the free end ofsaid rod, substantially as and for the purposes stated.

EDMUND W. DOOLITTLE.

Witnesses:

R. G. ORVVIG, THOMAS G. ()RWIG.

